ABSTRACT
American jazz saxophonist, born Edward Stitt in Boston. He was a Big Band alto saxophone performer in his teens, joining Billy Eckstine in 1945, and the Dizzy Gillespie band in 1946. He led and played with many groups, among them the Miles Davis Quintet. Stitt developed a style drawn from Charlie Parker, but produced more original material when he took up the tenor saxophone around 1950. Two of his important LP albums were Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio (Verve #8344; 1959) and Stitt Plays Bird (Atlantic #1418; 1963). He died in Washington, D.C.
